Foldable utensil set

ABSTRACT

A foldable utensil set including a bowl, dish, cup and spoon each foldable from a prescored plastic sheet which is semitransparent to allow angled folds at the corner to be visible as an aesthetic feature. The rims of the bowl and cup have portions at two different levels to prevent liquid from reaching the level of the mating snaps used to secure the bowl and cup in the folded condition. The spoon is folded from a flat sheet having two contiguous sections scored so as to form a handle and bowl portion when folded. The dish has side edges stiffened with a fold over section which also holds the folds in position. Oval shaped scoring is provided as an aesthetic feature and to aid in forming corners on the utensils when being folded.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention concerns food service utensils such as bowls, cups, anddishes, which are foldable from flat sheets. Such utensils have beendeveloped and provide the advantage of easy storability. See, forexample, U.S. Publication No. 2005/10384 A1 which describes a handledcup folded from a plastic sheet cut and scored in a particular pattern.Additional similar vessels are currently sold under the ORIKASO™trademark. While such foldable vessels have been provided, it is notbelieved that implements such as serving spoons have heretofore beenproposed.

It is the object of the present invention to provide foldable foodservice utensils which are of improved utility and appearance, and areeasier to fold up, and have other advantages over foldable utensilsheretofore provided.

It is a further object of the present invention to also provide otherfoldable utensils such as spoons and other implements.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The above objects and other objects which will be appreciated upon areading of the following specification and claims are achieved byproviding foldable spoons and other such implements formed from a foldedsheet cut in a pattern having a generally rectangular handle sectionmade up of several pleat folds flattened together and a contiguouslyconnected bowl section foldable into a spoon bowl.

Two longitudinal fold lines extend along the handle section and into thebowl section where they blend into curved score lines, with a thirdintermediate longitudinal score line terminating at the handle section.

These three folds form accordion or pleated folds which can be flattenedtogether to form an elongated handle comprised of three layers ofplastic sheeting. The bowl section is defined by two upturned sidesformed by score lines extending from the handle section, the two sideshaving curved shapes intersecting the handle section. Sets of triangularfold lines create a down sloping surface at the rear of the spoon bowl.

An auxiliary handle wrap section is folded around the flattened togetherlayers of the handle section and held in place with snaps to hold thelayers together, the wrap also acting to stiffen the handle.

Foldable vessels such as bowls, dishes, cups, or the like are alsoprovided formed from semitransparent tinted sheets of plastic such aspolypropylene which are cut and scored in particular patterns. Thetinted semitransparent plastic sheets allow folded edges at corners ofthe vessels to be visible through other folded over portions of thesheeting to create an enhanced aesthetic appearance by creatinginteresting visual features at the corners of the vessel.

The bowl and cup vessels incorporate mating snaps to hold the same intheir folded state. One or more parts of the rim of the formed vesselare lower than one or more other parts of the vessel rim to prevent theliquid level in the vessel from reaching the level of the mating snapswhich are located adjacent rim parts at a higher level.

Pointed end oval patterns are created at folded corners by score lineswhich reduce the severity of the bending required to form corners andalso provide an attractive visual feature to improve the overallappearance of the vessel.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURES

FIG. 1 is a pictorial view of a foldable serving spoon according to thepresent invention.

FIG. 1A is a pictorial view of a partially folded serving spoon shown inFIG. 1.

FIG. 2 is a bottom view of the serving spoon shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is top view of the serving spoon shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

FIG. 4 is a right side view of the serving spoon shown in FIGS. 1-3, theleft side view being a mirror image.

FIG. 5 is a rear end view of the serving spoon shown in FIGS. 1-4.

FIG. 6 is a front end view of the serving spoon shown in FIGS. 1-5.

FIG. 7 is a plan view of a flat sheet cut and scored in a pattern toenable it to be folded into the serving spoon shown in FIGS. 1-6.

FIG. 8 is a pictorial view of a foldable bowl according to the presentinvention.

FIG. 8A is a partially inverted and folded view of the foldable bowlshown in FIG. 8.

FIG. 9 is an enlarged top view of the bowl shown in FIG. 8.

FIG. 10 is an enlarged bottom view of the bowl shown in FIGS. 8 and 9.

FIG. 11 is a right side view of the bowl shown in FIGS. 8-10, the leftside view being identical.

FIG. 12 is a front view of the bowl shown in FIGS. 8-11, the rear viewbeing identical.

FIG. 13 is a plan view of a flat sheet cut and scored in a patternenabling it to be foldable into the bowl shown in FIGS. 8-12.

FIG. 14 is a pictorial view of a foldable cup according to the presentinvention.

FIG. 14A is a pictorial view of the foldable cup shown in FIG. 14, in apartially folded condition.

FIG. 15 is a top view of the cup shown in FIG. 14.

FIG. 16 is a bottom view of the cup shown in FIGS. 14 and 15.

FIG. 17 is a right side view of the bowl shown in FIGS. 14-16, the leftside view being identical.

FIG. 18 is a front view of the bowl shown in FIGS. 14-17, the rear viewbeing identical.

FIG. 19 is a plan view of a sheet cut and scored in a pattern enablingit to be foldable into the cup shown in FIGS. 14-18.

FIG. 20 is a pictorial view of a foldable dish according to the presentinvention.

FIG. 21 is a top view of the dish shown in FIG. 20.

FIG. 22 is a bottom view of the dish shown in FIGS. 20 and 21.

FIG. 23 is a right side view of the dish shown in FIGS. 20-22, the leftside view being identical.

FIG. 24 is a front view of the dish shown in FIGS. 20-23, the rear viewbeing identical.

FIG. 25 is a plan view of a sheet cut and scored in a pattern enablingit to be foldable into the dish shown in FIGS. 20-24.

FIG. 26 is a plan view of a sheet cut and scored in a pattern enablingit to be foldable into a fork.

FIG. 27 is a plan view of a sheet cut and scored in a pattern enablingit to be foldable into a combined spoon and fork.

FIG. 28 is a plan view of a sheet cut and scored in a pattern enablingit to be foldable into a dipper or Chinese type spoon.

FIG. 29 is a plan view of a sheet cut and scored in a pattern enablingit to be foldable into a brush.

FIG. 30 is a plan view of a sheet cut and scored in a pattern enablingit to be foldable into a short handled scoop or beach shovel.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following detailed description, certain specific terminology willbe employed for the sake of clarity and a particular embodimentdescribed in accordance with the requirements of 35 USC 112, but it isto be understood that the same is not intended to be limiting and shouldnot be so construed inasmuch as the invention is capable of taking manyforms and variations within the scope of the appended claims.

Referring to the drawings, and particularly FIGS. 1-7, a foldableserving spoon 10 is shown, including a handle 12 at one end and spoonbowl 14 at the other.

The spoon 10 is formed from a flat sheet 16 which is cut and scored inthe pattern shown in FIG. 7 enabling it to be folded into the spoon 10.

The sheet 16 is of a suitable plastic such as a food contact grade ofpolypropylene 0.6 mm thick which has been die cut and scored in thepattern shown in FIG. 7 so as to create a series of fold lines arrangedto enable the sheet 16 to be readily foldable into the spoon 10 shown inFIGS. 1-6. The scoring is preferably done with a heated die edge at thetime that the sheet is being die cut in a manner known in the art.

The cut pattern produces a generally rectangular section 18 and anintegral section 20 having a rounded end projecting from one side of thebottom part A of the section 18.

The scoring pattern includes a first series of equally spaced parallelfold lines 22 extending from side-to-side across the lower part of thefirst section 18. Rounded corners 24 may be provided at the right sideof the rectangles formed by the lines 22.

The upper part B of the section 18 is also scored with a series oflengthwise parallel fold lines 26, two of the lines 26-1, 26-2relatively closely spaced and two others 26-3, 26-4 even more closelyspaced.

Two male snaps 28 are affixed at either end of the lower part A and twofemale snaps 30 are mounted at either end of the upper part B for apurpose described below.

The projecting section 20 has opposite straight sides 32 at a partcontiguous to the first section 18 which extend to curved sides 34converging together at a rounded tip 36.

The rounded end section 20 has a pattern of score lines including a pairof straight lines 38 extending in alignment from two outboard scorelines 22-1 and 22-3 of the section 18 for a portion of the length ofsection 20.

A pair of second fold lines 40 diverge from a point X at the left end ofthe centered fold line 22-2 of the section 18 to a point Y intersectingone of the straight lines 38. A slight curved line 42 connects thepoints Y forming a centered triangle 44 with a curved base.

A pair of straight lines 46 angle out from each point Y to intersectstraight side 32 at a backward slanting angle.

Also emanating towards the rounded point 36 from each point Y arerespective curved pairs of fold lines 48 forming narrow pointed endovals 50.

To form the spoon 10, the sheet 16 is first inverted from the positionshown in FIG. 7.

The lines 21-1, 2-3 are pleated accordion style to raise the center foldline 22-2 and fold down the adjacent areas W, bringing up the two sideareas V as seen in FIG. 7A. This creates a central ridge with the pointX elevated. A cross score line 39 extending across all of the areas Wand V allows the areas U and T to be angled out from the areas V and Wwhen those areas are flattened together to form the handle 12. Thiscreates the outwardly flaring rear part of the bowl section 14, thetriangle 44 sloping down the middle of the bowl section. The folding ofthese areas causes the triangle 44 to slope down and the side areas Ubrought up to be alongside the areas T adjacent the triangle 44.

The areas V and W are flattened together to create a bar like handle 12capable of resisting bending if spoon bowl 14 is loaded to as to becapable of effectively functioning as a handle.

In order to keep the layers of the handle 12 flattened together, theupper Section B is wrapped around these flattened layers, area “Q”folded over the sides and areas “P” over the thickness of the handle.Snaps 30 and 28 are mated together to maintain the handle layersflattened together.

The side areas S are also brought up to form spoon bowl sides, togetherwith side areas U, sloping down to the rounded tip 36. The two ovalareas 50 form an angled transition of these sides adjacent to a bottomarea R of the spoon bowl 14.

FIGS. 8-13 show a foldable vessel comprised of a bowl 52. This generaltype of fold up vessel is known in the carryout Chinese restauranttrade, with flat sheets of treated paperboard pre-creased to facilitatefold-up.

The foldable bowl 50 is formed from a flat sheet 54 of plasticpreferably polypropylene of slightly greater thickness than the spoon,i.e. 0.8 mm.

The sheet 34 has a perimeter edge 56 defining a multisided shape, suchas the square shown. A series of scored fold lines 58 form a closedshape (i.e., a square, although a triangle and other shapes are alsopossible) here having sides corresponding to those of the perimeter edge56, and associated in the same way so that the sides of the squareextend in the same general direction as a corresponding side of theperimeter edge 56.

Pairs of diverging fold lines 60, 62 emanate from each corner of theclosed shape and extend to the perimeter edge, forming triangular areasB. Two pairs of opposite side areas C and D are thus left betweentriangular areas B.

A male snap 64 is fixed at each corner of each side area C and D. A hole68 is punched into the sheet 54 at the top of each triangular area Blocated so that when the area B is folded along side D onto the outsideof the side by folding along lines 60, 62, the male snap can engage amating female snap through the aligned hole 64.

According to one feature of the present invention the perimeter edge 56Cof the sides C forming a part of the bowl rim are curved outwardly whilethe edges 56D of sides D forming the remainder of the bowl rim arestraight across. The snaps 66, 68 are located adjacent the outwardlycurved edge.

The edge at the upper corners of the sides D is also slightly curved tobe a match to the curve of the edge of the area B.

When the sides C and D are folded up, a triangular pleat is formed byareas B and the overlying area of the sides D, the pleat 70 overlyingthe sides C, allowing the snaps 66, 68 to be mated.

In this position, the curved edges 56C form a higher rim part than thelowest point X of straight edges 56D which form a lower dipping curvedrim part. This configuration prevents over filling of the bowl 52 to thepoint where the liquid level would reach that of the mating snaps 66, aswell as enhancing the appearance of the bowl 52.

The plastic sheet 54 is semitransparent which adds a distinct aestheticeffect since the inner edge of the pleats 70 defined by the fold line 62becomes visible through overlying portions of the sheet, combining withthe outer edge defined by the fold line 60, which becomes visible fromthe inside. Thus, an attractive design feature is created to make theappearance of the folded vessel significantly more pleasing.

Referring to FIGS. 14-19, a foldable cup 74 is shown which has somesimilarities to the bowl 52 described above. That is, a flat sheet of aplastic 76 has a central closed shape (here, a square) formed by aseries of fold lines 78. In order to create walls steeper than the bowl52 so as to be suitable for a cup, two triangular areas B-1, B-2 areformed at each of the corners with narrower sides C, D than the bowl. Apair of fold lines 80 combine with elongated ovals 84 to form triangularareas B-1 which create a rounded corner 86 at the intersection of flaps80 with sides C and D. The ovals 84 reduce the bending stress at thecorners as well as presenting a pleasing visual feature.

The flaps 88 are large enough to overlap as seen in FIGS. 14, 17 so thata single set of snaps 90, 92 can hold both flaps 88 on each side,passing through two holes 94 in one corner of the flaps 88 and a hole 96on one side of the other flaps 88.

The top edge 98 of each side C are curved down while the top edges 100of the sides D and 102 of flaps 88 are curved up to keep the maximumlevel of liquid below the snaps 90, 92 in similar fashion to the bowl52.

Referring to FIGS. 20-25, a foldable dish 104 is shown of a rectangularconfiguration with a pair of low, substantially vertical side walls 106and end walls 108. The foldable dish 104 is formed by folding a flatplastic sheet 110 of a general rectangular shape, preferably foodcontact grade polypropylene, 0.8 mm thick as in the bowl and cupdescribed above.

A generally rectangular bottom area “A” is formed by a pair of scoredfold lines 112 defining the long side of the dish 104, and two pairs ofshallowly curved fold lines 114 forming pointed end oval areas “B”. Thesides 106 are formed by rectangular areas C outside the fold lines 112while ends 103 are formed by rectangular areas D outside fold line pairs114.

A pair of triangular areas E, F are formed by extensions of fold lines112 and angled fold lines 116 extending out from the corners where thesides 106 and ends 108 abut.

Flap strips 120 are formed by closely spaced double fold lines 118defining the upper edge of the sides.

Holes 122 are formed in each of the triangular areas E, F which becomealigned when the sides 112 and ends 108 are folded up and triangularareas are folded together to project outwardly forming a triangular flap124. The triangular flaps 124 are wrapped over the outside of thesidewalls 106 (FIGS. 28, 29).

The rectangular flaps 120 are then folded out and over the triangularflaps 124 and the sides 106 (FIGS. 20, 23). Male snaps 126 and nowaligned female snaps 128 are snapped together through more aligned holes122 in the triangular flaps 124 to secure the folded condition of thedish 104.

The rectangular flaps 120 serve to stiffen the longer sides 108.

The semitransparent plastic allows viewing of the triangular flaps 124through the rectangular flaps 120 and sides 106 as seen in FIG. 20,adding a pleasing visual effect as described above.

It will be appreciated that the various foldable utensils in the set canbe varied in size and proportions.

FIGS. 26-30 are variations of the foldable handled utensil described inFIGS. 1-7A.

In FIG. 26, lines 128 are formed on the leading edge of the bowl 130 toprovide a foldable fork from a flat sheet.

In FIG. 27, shorter serrations 132 provide a “spork” or combined spoonand fork 134.

In FIG. 28 a Chinese spoon or dipper 136 is provided by eliminating someof the fold lines to create a deeper bowl 138.

FIG. 29 shows a foldable brush 140 formed by providing a series ofbristles 142 projecting from a handle section.

FIG. 30 shows a large scoop or beach shovel 144 having a large bowl 146and a proportionately shorter handle 148.

1. A foldable vessel set comprising a foldable bowl, cup and dish, eachformed of a sheet of plastic scored in a pattern such as to formoverlapped triangular sections folded over at rounded corners, saidplastic being semitransparent so that said overlapped sections andfolded over sections are visible from inside through a portion of aplastic sheet over which said sections are folded.
 2. A foldable vesselset according to claim 1, wherein each vessel has formed corners andsaid pattern includes score lines forming a narrow, elongated pointedend oval sheet at each corner of each of said vessels creating a roundedcorner by bending along the line of each oval sheet, simultaneouslyfolded from said sheet.
 3. A foldable utensil having an elongated handleand a bowl portion connected to said handle, said utensil foldable froma sheet of plastic cut and scored in a pattern enabling a handle andbowl to be simultaneously folded from said sheet, said sheet having foursides forming a generally rectangular section from which said elongatedhandle can be folded and a section contiguous to said one side of saidhandle section and having sides converging to a rounded end projectingaway from said handle section.
 4. The foldable utensil according toclaim 3, wherein said handle section has a series of three score linesextending from a side opposite said side contiguous with said bowlsection and parallel to two other opposite sides of said handle section,said lines enabling said handle section to be folded and pleated in a“W” shape which is collapsed to form said handle with a central ridgeformed by a central one of said three parallel fold lines.
 5. Theutensil according to claim 4 wherein said bowl section includes scoringside lines extending from each of said parallel scoring lines on eachside of said central scoring lines, towards the tip of said bowl sectionand a pair of score lines extending from the adjacent end of saidcentral ridge line and diverging towards respective sides of said bowlsections to converge with a respective side scoring line, said bowlsection areas outward of said scoring lines folded up when outboardareas of said W shape are folded up to form sides of said bowl section.6. The utensil according to claim 5 wherein said divergent score linesform a down sloped triangular area upon folding down of adjacent areas.7. The utensil according to claim 6 wherein said side lines are doubledpast said point of convergence with said diverging lines to form anarrow pointed end oval extending to said rounded end of said bowlsection to form a rounded corner with a main central area of said bowlsection intermediate said narrow ovals and forward of said triangulararea.
 8. The utensil according to claim 6 further including a score lineextending across the contiguous parts of said handle and bowl sectionsto allow folding of said bowl side areas to be divergent from saidhandle.
 9. The utensil according to claim 4 wherein said sheet ofplastic further includes a wrap section contiguous to one of saidopposite sides and having a series of parallel score lines enabling saidwrap section to be folded to encircle said collapsed areas of saidhandle section.
 10. The utensil according to claim 9 further includingmating sets of snaps on respective overlapped areas of said wrap sectionsecuring said wrap section wrapped around said collapsed handle sectionareas.
 11. A method of folding a spoon from a flat sheet of plastic bycutting said sheet to have a perimeter shape defining a generallyrectangular handle section and a bowl section contiguous an end of saidhandle section said bowl section having a rounded tip at an endprojecting away from said handle section; folding said handle sectionwith three parallel folds between two opposite sides of said handlesection to form a “W” shape which is collapsed together to form anelongated handle comprised of rectangular layers forming said “W” shape;simultaneously folding up sides of said bowl section while creating foldlines diverging from the center of one end of a ridge peak formed bysaid “W” shape to allow divergence of said folded up sides of said bowlshape.
 12. The method according to claim 11 further including the stepof scoring said plastic sheet to facilitate folding thereof.
 13. Themethod according to claim 11 further including the steps of cutting saidsheet to form a generally rectangular wrap section contiguous to saidhandle section, and folding said wrap section around said handle sectionfolded areas and securing the same in position.
 14. A foldable vesselfor holding a liquid comprising a plastic sheet having a plurality ofsides defining a perimeter edge of said sheet; a series of scoredfolding lines defining a closed shape at a central region of saidplastic sheet having a number of sides corresponding to the sides of theperimeter edge of said plastic sheet and extending in the same generaldirection as a respective side of said perimeter edge; a pair of scoredfolding lines diverging out from each corner of said closed shape tosaid perimeter edge to form a series of triangular flaps that whenvessel sides defined between said triangular flaps are folded up can befolded over one of said adjacent sides and atop the adjacent sides;further including a mating set of snaps at the top of each of said sidesin a region covered by said triangular flaps with an aligned holetherein to allow securement of said folded condition thereof, theimprovement comprising an outwardly curving perimeter edge of at leastone of two of the sides and an inwardly curving perimeter edge on atleast one of the other sides so that a lower and an upper edge iscreated defining a rim of said folded vessel, the mating snap setslocated at a higher level when said vessel is folded up to ensure thatliquid cannot reach said snap set level.